Open Access

ARTICLE

Impact of Biodegradable Chitosan-Based Coating on Barrier Properties of Papers

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1 University of Bordeaux, LCPO, UMR 5629, F-33600 Pessac, France
2 CNRS, LCPO, UMR 5629, F-33600 Pessac, France
3 PepsiCo Inc. Europe R&D, Beaumont Park, 4 Leycroft Road, Leicester LE4 1ET, United Kingdom
4 Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV), Giggenhauser Straße 35, 85354 Freising, Germany.
5 Centre Technique du Papier, Domaine Universitaire – BP 251, 38044 Grenoble Cedex 9, France

* Corresponding Authors: ,

Journal of Renewable Materials 2014, 2(2), 123-133. https://doi.org/10.7569/JRM.2014.634105

Received 14 January 2014; Accepted 02 April 2014;

Abstract

Aroma and oxygen-barrier properties of chitosan-coated papers were measured in order to evaluate the potential of these materials as biodegradable materials for food packaging. Firstly, two chitosans (Chi- 244 and Chi-652) were studied according to their ultimate biodegradability. Chi-652 showed the best fi nal biodegradation rate and was then used for subsequent tests in association with papers. Then, oxygen-barrier and aroma-barrier properties of papers, Chi-652 fi lms and Chi-652-coated papers were investigated. The Chi-652 fi lms exhibited oxygen-barrier at low relative humidity and aroma-barrier comparable to synthetic materials already used in the packaged food industry. Both papers exhibited poor barrier properties toward oxygen and aromas. Although chitosan-coated papers showed promising results in regard to the aromabarrier performance of papers, it did not improve their oxygen-barrier properties, probably because of the impact of the coating process on the tri-dimensional structure of the papers.

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Keywords

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